The United States of America continues to dominate the list with Bill Gates returning to the top of the list as the wealthiest person in the world – after being off the top spot for four years. Additionally, American Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fortune was this year’s biggest gainer on the list of the extremely wealthy persons.

Forbes says that its team of researchers found that the 1,645 billionaires had an aggregate net worth of $6.4 trillion – which is increased for $5.4 trillion last year. This year, there are a record 368 new persons on the list which includes 42 new female billionaires. With the new females on the list, another record was broken this year as there are a total of 172 female billionaires which is up 34 more than last year. Having 172 women on the list is a record.

Bill Gates’ return to the top spot on the list dethrones Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico who was on the top of the list for the past four years. Gates’ fortune increased by $9 billion in the past 12 months. Gates, incidentally, has been at the top of the list for 15 years out of the past two decades. Holding at number three for a second year in a row is Amancio Ortega, and Warren Buffett is number four.

Last year, $23 billion was needed for a billionaire to make the top ten. This year, it took $31 billion to break into the top ten – which broke yet another record on this year’s list of the most wealthy people on the planet.

The Top 50 Billionaires of 2014

(Name, Net worth, Source of wealth)

Bill Gates ($76 B, Microsoft)

Carlos Slim Helu ($72 B, telecom)

Amancio Ortega ($64 B, retail)

Warren Buffett ($58.2 B, Berkshire Hathaway)

Larry Ellison ($48 B, Oracle)

tie: Charles Koch ($40 B, diversified)

tie: David Koch ($40 B, diversified)

Sheldon Adelson ($38 B, casinos)

Christy Walton ($36.7 B, Wal-Mart)

Jim Walton ($34.7 B, Wal-Mart)

Liliane Bettencourt ($34.5 B, L’Oreal)

Stefan Persson ($34.4 B, H&M)

Alice Walton ($34.3 B, Wal-Mart)

S. Robson Walton ($34.2 B, Wal-Mart)

Bernard Arnault ($33.5 B, LVMH)

Michael Bloomberg ($33 B, Bloomberg LP)

Larry Page ($32.3 B, Google)

Jeff Bezos ($32 B, Amazon.com)

Sergey Brin ($31.8 B, Google)

Li Ka-shing ($31 B, diversified)

Mark Zuckerberg ($28.5 B, Facebook)

Michele Ferrero ($26.5 B, chocolates)

tie: Aliko Dangote ($25 B, cement/sugar/flour)

tie: Karl Albrecht ($25 B, retail)

Carl Icahn ($24.5 B, investments)

George Soros ($23.5 B, hedge funds)

David Thomson ($22.6 B, media)

Lui Che Woo ($22 B, casinos)

Dieter Schwarz ($21.1 B, retail)

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud ($20.4 B, investments)

tie: Forrest Mars ($20 B, candy)

tie: Jacqueline Mars ($20 B, candy)

tie: John Mars ($20 B, candy)

Jorge Paulo Lemann ($19.7 B, beer)

Lee Shau Kee ($19.6 B, diversified)

tie: Steve Ballmer ($19.3 B, Microsoft)

tie: Theo Albrecht, Jr. ($19.3 B, Trader Joe’s)

Leonardo DelVecchio ($19.2 B, eyeglasses)

Len Blavatnik ($18.7B, diversified)

tie: Mukesh Ambani ($18.6 B, petrochemicals/oil/gas)

tie: Alisher Usmanov ($18.6 B, steel/telecom/investments)

tie: Michael Otto ($18.4 B, retail/real estate)

tie: Masayoshi Son ($18.4 B, internet, telecom)

tie: Phil Knight ($18.4 B, Nike)

Tadashi Yanai ($16.9 B, retail)

Gina Rinehart ($17.7 B, mining)

Mikhail Fridman ($17.6 B, oil/banking/telecom)

Michael Dell ($17.5 B, Dell)

Susanne Klatten ($17.4 B, BMW/pharmaceuticals)

Abigail Johnson ($17.3 B, investments)

The world’s wealthiest people are from across the globe and are making their fortunes from a variety of sources.